I recently watched a concert of Ed Sheeran singing “Thinking Out Loud” when the camera panned to the person playing the piano and it turned out to be Chris Martin from Coldplay and the song finished with a duet. I sat there thinking, “Wow, that really worked.” Collaborating with another ...

Like I've mentioned before, I was…and am…a big Archie fan. As a youngster, I would pick up a digest from the grocery store checkout line whenever I had the money.
I would usually flip through the digest before buying, to see if there were any stories drawn ...

Make sure you've read all the previous issues!

I'm at a nice place in my webcomic right now. Well, it's nice as the writer, at least.
The characters have a nice history now, with some adventures behind them, some established relationships, and a stable of supporting characters ...

image by Banes

Last Thursday I talked a little about writing a scene, in terms of the change that happens, what the character wants, and what obstacle is in the way of achieving that want.

But what about dialogue? Eh?

One way to help define what's going on in ...

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We've talked about formulas before, but mostly in the context of escaping formulas and reinventing them.
NOW however we're talking about using existing formulas to create a story, or creating new formulas and sticking to them to come up with your stories.
Formulas can be a good ...

Ozoneocean has been goodly enough to let me participate on the DD front page on Thursdays. So I'll be jabbering here weekly and attempting to be

1. Entertaining and/or
2. Informative and/or
3. Punctual

It's a treat to get to do this, so thanks!

CONTRASTS

The ...

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- Art by Kevin Hayman.

Content:
For Quackcast 224 I've asked Kevin Hayman back again (KOTA's world, Mailbox Rocketship, Erant Apprentice), to regale us with his Owen Wilson stylings…
But seriously, the topic is “finding your own voice in writing”, i.e. learning not to imitate your hero ...

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- Art from Albert the Alien.

Content:
On today's Quackcast I, the marvellous Ozoneocean am speaking to the equally marvellous Trevor Mueller of Albert the Alien! This fine chap is returning to the Quackcast (was on Quackcast 184), to chat with me about the process of collaborating from the ...

There is a brand new piece of off-white coloured paper on the desk. The click of a GraphiGear mechanical pencil. The lead hitting the table. Tap. Tap. Tap. The need to draw is there, but the inspiration behind it makes it very difficult to create an image out of thin ...

There is a slightly odd trend in screenwriting for indie films called Mumblecore where the actors are given a very minimal to non-existent script to work from and are forced into creating natural dialogue on the spot. I believe the director has a general story outline of where he or ...